Must Have Music

Posted by: garyi on 28 September 2001

When I sold my CD3 the guy there asked what music I had, and took me through his collection, he was quite taken aback when I said I hadn't heard of joni Mitchells, Hissing Lawns, or Hissing Trees can't remember which.

anyhoo, will look for that soon, but what other recordings (your personal tastes aside) are considered essential in any collection, such as Kind of blue etc?

Cheers, (probably guessed by now on a major cd spree this weekend!)

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Lo Fi Si
Not sure what you’ve got already, probably heaps sooo you can just tell me to piss off for most of the below. I’m just sticking to modern rock (for wont of a better term) cos although I like jazz, reggae, ska et. al. I’m no expert. It all depends what you mean by essential, I couldn’t live without my Clean eps but that doesn’t count.

Television - Marquee Moon
Velvet Underground - First 3 albums
Magazine - Real Life, Boxed set!! see hijacked thread
Buzzcocks - Singles going steady
Spritualized - Ladies and Gentlemen we are Floating (on MD at the moment, I’m at work)
Can - Anthology 25 years?
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
Young Marble Giants - Colossal Youth !!
PiL - Greatest Hits (so far)
Jane’s Addiction - Los Ritual de la Habitual (? My Spanish aint too good)
Jah Wobble &IotH - Closer to God
Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman & Second toughest ..
Captain Beefheart - Everything !!!
Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
Undertones - The Undertones
Neil Young Harvest (and Decade?)
Husker Du - Warehouse

Simon

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Mike Hanson
Actually "The Hissing of Summer Lawns" is one of Joni's less popular albums, although many people (including me) enjoy it nonetheless.

Other "essentials" should definitely include XTC's "Skylarking", and about 300 others that I don't have time to write down at the moment. smile

Gotta run....

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by SaturnSF
"The Hissing of Summer Lawns" is one of my favorite Joni albums.
Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Mike Hanson
I just checked www.allmusic.com. I usually find that their ratings are fairly accurate, although there's an occasional strange call, here and there.

In the case of "Hissing..." they've given it 4.5 stars, while "Hejira" was given only three stars. However, I think that "Hejira" is definitely a better album. Hmmm... confused

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Lo Fi Si
Quote

include XTC's "Skylarking", and about 300 others that I don't have time to write down at the moment.

cf

I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this statement, which, unfortunately this margin is too small to contain

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Nigel Cavendish
Only you can decide "must have".

Lo Fi Si

quote:
Hansons Last Theorem Quote
include XTC's "Skylarking", and about 300 others that I don't have time to write down at the moment.

cf

I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this statement, which, unfortunately this margin is too small to contain

Brilliant!

cheers

Nigel

Posted on: 28 September 2001 by Mike Hanson
I'll add more when I get the chance. smile My brain hasn't been good at making these types of lists lately, though, so I need to sit in front of my CDs to recall the best (probably not 300, though wink).

-=> Mike Hanson <=-

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by garyi
Cheers Mike.

Nigel, I asked because I don't know what I want, that was the point of the post, for instance I didn't know about Joni Mitchells album but it would appear to be a classic which should belong in my collection.

Today I will buy the following:

ATC SkyLarking
Joni Mitchell, Hissing of Summer Lawns
Mabye a Velvet underground CD.

I know this is sheepish behaviour, but I have arrived at a point where I just don't know what to buy, so this seems as good a way as any.

Keep um coming. Cheers.

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by ken c
I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this statement, which, unfortunately this margin is too small to contain

every now and then, a forum posting makes me laugh, which is great. this is one.

so, is there an equivalent to Fermat's Last Theorem (now proven) in hifi? one at a time please, dont all answer at once...

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by Ron The Mon
....is absolutely essential. I am blown away when I go to someone's house and they don't have, or worse, have never heard this record.

For me, a "must have" would be a record that combines 1)a great cover, 2)every song good from beginning to end, 3)something once considered groundbreaking at the time, 4)playing it several times in a row and not tiring of it.

I'd include;
The first Santana record.
Paranoid by Black Sabbath
Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys
"Ramones"
Destination Out by Jackie McLean
The Slider by T Rex
In Rock by Deep Purple

As an aside I'd also say there are certain musicians who are essential listening; for example, it would be difficult to speak accurately of jazz guitarists without mentioning Jim Hall, yet I wouldn't consider any of his records "must haves". (Though the LPs with Bill Evans are close).

Ron The Mon

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by garyi
The Joni Mitchell one, payed it straight through, very nice.

The John Hiatt one, played about 30 seconds, not impressed as of yet sounds to much like Bruce Sprinstein to me, but I will try again at a later date.

Dread Zone, 360, it was going cheap and again played straight through, really enjoyed this one.

Velvet Underground, White Light/White Heat. Ikky, not at all what I thought Velvet Underground was. This is probably because i was thinking 'underground'='progressive rock', think Pinkfloyd, Yes, etc, however did not like it at all and may take it back.

Still this is how we learn, 50% was very good and one may grow on me yet.

Must do some Deep Purple though, have heard some of their stuff before and generaly like it.

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by Ron The Mon
Personally, I'd say owning every record by T Rex is essential, but I can listen to The Slider over and over again, where-as Electric Warrior (and the others) has for me a less consistent thread. However, I will say that Electric Warrior has one of the best record covers of all time.

Jackie McLean is a jazz sax player in a similar vein to Eric Dolphy and every one of his records is worth owning. Destination Out is ground-breaking in that it combines a quintet based on trombone(Grachan Moncur), sax, and vibes(Bobby Hutcherson) playing way-out-there extended bebop songs. And the photo of Jackie on the cover is the epitome of jazz coolness. Get it. It will turn you into a true bebop fan or make you realize this genre's not for you.

A couple more "must-haves";
Are We Not Men?.. by Devo
Get The Knack by The Knack
Otis by Mojo Nixon (This album is worth it just for the song "Don Henley Must Die" and is a fantastic recording.)

Ron The Mon

Posted on: 29 September 2001 by Rico
John Hiatt sounds like Bruse Springsteen? Ok, forget subtlty, GaryI needs sledgehammers.

  • Metallica - Load.
  • Devo - Freedom of choice
  • Rolling Stones - Exile on main street
  • The Clash - London Calling
  • Radiohead - The Bends
  • Red hot chilli peppers - Blood sugar sex magic
  • Led Zeppelin - I
  • Leftfield - Rythmn & Stealth
  • The B52's
  • Nirvana - nevermind
  • Happy Mondays - Pills 'n' thrils and bellyaches
  • Depeche Mode - Violator
  • The cult - Love (or Electric, for that matter)

Ok, and then we get into the other stuff.

Firstly, big seconds to:

  • The first Santana record.
  • Paranoid by Black Sabbath
  • Are We Not Men?.. by Devo
  • Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express
  • Jah Wobble &IotH - Closer to God
  • Underworld - Dubnobasswithmyheadman & Second toughest ..
  • Modern Lovers - Modern Lovers
  • Neil Young Harvest (and Decade?)

and then I would add...

neil Young's "Comes a time" above all other NY albums,

...and stuff like the obvious

[LIST]

  • Dark side of the moon (ok so it's not exactly fashionable these days)
  • New Order - Power, corruption, and lies
  • The Smiths
  • The beta band - the three ep's
  • Death in Vegas - the contino sessions
  • The Beat - Just can't Stop it
  • The Specials
  • The Cure - Seventeen Seconds
  • Talking Heads - Remain in light

    and oh man it's tough to sort out all these titles from your head - I'll pack it in at this point and hand over to someone else.

    Rico - SM/Mullet Audio

    • Posted on: 30 September 2001 by P
    How about

    Max Doubt and the Kings of Angst - What's That Buzzin'?

    Great album.

    P.

    Posted on: 30 September 2001 by garyi
    Thans Ron & Rico, that is food for thought.

    I was going to get the ATC album but it wasn't there there was another though which pout me off cause they looked like bananrama, have I missed the point?

    I have the Beta Bands Hot shots 2, not to sure about that, sounds well, German. But I will put it on again and see.

    Posted on: 30 September 2001 by Tim Jones
    gary -

    It's XTC, not ATC. No wonder you ran into Bananarama.

    Can I also suggest some Joy Division (for when you're feeling down), some Gang of Four (when feeling a bit radical, but slightly funky) and especially the first three albums by Wire (when feeling downright sinister).

    No collection is really complete without Bowie's seventies albums, especially Hunky Dory, Aladdin Sane and Ziggy Stardust.

    If you want something to make your system sound really awe-inspiring, try "Leftism" by Leftfield, which is a bit of a classic.

    Tim J

    Posted on: 30 September 2001 by garyi
    Feel a bit of a tit right now!

    I have the lefty album and I agree very nice.

    just had my family round and me and the step dad went through a load of music today. I am talking everything from Crossroads to Frankzappa, sade to joni Mitchell, I have had a great afternoon of musical listenings and am chuffed with the diveristy of music in my collection, still more needed though so thanks for the input guys.